2007

Karen looked up at him quickly, then back down at his hand that was resting on her arm, then at his face again. Jack had to stifle a smile at her incomprehension. For a moment, her face was soft and remorseful, but then just as quickly turned back to ice as she pulled out of his grasp and backed toward the door to Will's apartment.

She pressed her back against it, then froze as Jack regarded her cautiously, as though he were approaching a wild animal and was waiting to see if it was going to try and attack.

"Sorry, I….I just….reflex," Jack stumbled through his explanation. And it was the truth - it was a reflexive thing for him to come to Karen's aid when she was distressed. He had heard her sob through the door to his apartment and without thinking, had rushed out into the hallway to comfort her. It was only then, when she looked at him with utter confusion, did he remember that the last time he had tried to ease her sorrow, things hadn't gone so well.

"It's alright," she whispered, snapping her head toward the floor and absent-mindedly running the insole of her right shoe up the inside of her left calf. They stood there in awkward silence for another minute before Jack took a step back.

"I should -" he gestured behind him, towards his apartment door, " - sorry."

Karen didn't say anything as he scurried back into his apartment, but felt her breath release as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She shook her head and gave a bitter laugh; she almost didn't even remember what they were fighting about anymore. She had forgiven him in her heart long ago, but since they had established this normalcy of avoidance, she hadn't the courage to apologize to his face. And truth be told, she hadn't wanted to. She didn't like apologizing.

But now, standing just feet away from where he was, and after sharing a moment with him for the first time in half a year, she was exasperated. More than anything, she just wanted this all to be done. She wanted things back how they were.

Will opened the door behind her, catching her gingerly as she lost the balance of her weight that had been resting against it.

"Karen," he told her as she turned around to face him and he closed the door behind her. "We need to talk about this."

"About what, honey?"

If he was going to play like he knew exactly what was going on between her and Jack and exactly how to fix it, then she was going to play like she hadn't the slightest clue what he was talking about. She looked off to the side and blew a piece of hair off of her face as he grabbed both of her hands and raised his eyebrows towards her, not amused.

"I know about the baby."

Karen frowned and nodded slowly. She caught Vince's eye from across the kitchen, and whatever was written on her face was enough to send him scrambling into the next room to allow her and Will their privacy.

"You didn't think Jack would keep something like that from me?"

Karen blinked and look back at Will as though she had forgotten that he was there, despite the fact that he was clutching her small hands in his and gently tugging on them, trying to lead her to the couch to sit down with him.

"You kept the first one from him," she retorted, her voice short and bitter. She raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking him to confirm that fact. When he gave her a slight nod, bobbing his head up and down slowly, she allowed herself to be taken to the couch.

"I know it may have seemed unfair," Will cleared his throat as they sat, "for him to have been…involved…with someone while you were going through all of that." Karen gave an embittered chuckle. Yes, it was unfair. "But Karen, he just didn't understand what he would have to give up to make you happy. And he wasn't thinking about what he did outside of your world with him would affect you. He was giving you what he could. You can't expect more than that from him." At this point Will paused, and grabbed Karen's chin between his thumb and index finger to turn her face towards his. "You just can't."

Karen knew what he was saying to her, in so many words. She knew that Will had been silently observing and analyzing her relationship with Jack for years now, and she knew it must've been obvious to someone as observant and invested as he that she was completely in love with Jack. And while Will would never attack her pride by dragging that fact out in the open, he would come dangerously close. His words now, implying that she couldn't expect anything more from Jack than friendship, couldn't wait any longer for him to fall in love with her, cut into her like a machete.

They hurt so badly, she realized, because they were true.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The leather soles of her heels thumped silently against the hardwood floor. When she reached the dark blue sofa, she let her purse drop from her shoulder and rest against the cushions, piling her long coat on top. In the dark, she continued on to the door of the bedroom. Pausing just outside of it, she slipped out of her shoes and pushed them neatly against the wall.

She held her breath as she turned the handle to Jack's bedroom door, slow enough that the sound of the latch mechanism opening would barely make a sound. The room was so small that she only had to take two steps until she reached the bed, where she could see Jack's sleeping form. He was curled up on his side, the top of the blanket covering him just gracing his shoulders, his body rising and falling with each steady breath.

Karen pulled up the blanket on the side of the bed closest to her, the empty side, and slid underneath the cover. She let her eyes fall shut as she snuggled against Jack's warm and shirtless back, not wanting to touch him in any other way than to let her forehead come to rest against the curvature of his spine. As her skin made contact with his, Jack's eyes opened, and he sighed as he reached behind him to pull her arm across his waist.

She smiled and let him, and instantly squeezed him tightly. They lay like that for several minutes before he spoke.

"I'm sorry," was all he whispered. Karen shook her head softly against his back.

"No, I'm sorry," she replied. He frowned, and without him having to voice his question of "why?" she answered it. "I shouldn't have expected so much from you. What you did for me…was the most generous thing anyone has ever done for me, and that should've been enough." She paused as she collected her thoughts. Jack remained still. "You mean the world to me, Jackie…but I know you have limits. I won't try and force you past them anymore."

She scooted her body up and burrowed her face into the crook of his neck after planting a soft kiss behind his ear. Neither of them spoke as her words sank in, filling the gaps between their bodies and enveloping them in a kind of bittersweet acceptance. And now, finally forgiven and back in each others' arms, they let themselves fall into the deepest and most peaceful of slumbers that either of them had experienced in six months.